Playing for Keeps
by LayKay
Summary: This time it's real, this time they're both playing for keeps. Caskett wedding three-shot.
1. Him

"Maybe you should go check on Kate," Rick whispered to Alexis as she tied his bowtie.

"She's not going anywhere, Dad. Lanie's with her."

"I'm not scared of her running, I just…" he trailed off, unable to think of another reason to send his daughter to check on his soon-to-be bride. "Just… go. Please? Make sure they're both staying calm."

Alexis smiled, fixing her father's hair where some had fallen into his eyes, putting it back into place. "And who's gonna keep you calm, hmm?" She had started off in the bridal room with Kate, who had sent her to make sure Rick was doing alright.

"I'm calm as a cucumber, kid."

"Sure you are, that's why you had your pants on backwards. Remember, Dad, third time's the charm."

He nodded, turning to look into the full-length mirror, adjusting his tie and jacket.

"Dad?" Alexis said worriedly, stepping to her father's side. She knew his nervous tells, fidgeting was definitely one of them. "What's wrong?"

"What if it isn't? What if I'm just not the kind of guy who can make a relationship last forever?"

"This is different. Kate is different."

"She is. She's different from any woman I've ever been with. What am I doing?"

"Don't do this. That's why it's gonna work, she is different, she's your soulmate. You guys have spent the last 6 years together, every day. If you haven't killed each other yet, you won't."

"What if she falls out of love with me?"

Alexis sighed very softly. "She won't, Daddy. That's not who Kate is. She won't just wake up and decide she's sick of you. She loves you, she'll always love you. You know marriage is a one time only thing for her."

"That's why I'm so scared. I don't want to let her down."

She hugged her father around his side, tucking herself under his arm. "You won't. You never have."

When there was a knock on the door, they both turned, Alexis' arms still around her father's waist. Esposito's head poked into the room. "Yo, we gotta get moving."

Rick nodded, looking down at Alexis. "I'll see you soon," she whispered, kissing his cheek. "It's gonna be ok." She gave him one more quick squeeze before leaving the room.

To be continued...


	2. Her

"I can't breathe. I can't… I can't breathe," Kate gasped as she paced around the room where Lanie was helping her get ready. She wore a satin robe, her dress hanging up on the mirror. She sat on a stool, clutching her ribcage.

Lanie raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her best friend. "Girl, you cannot have a panic attack right now."

"Don't tell me when I can and can't have a panic attack! I'm getting married in two hours and I think right now is the perfect time to have a panic attack!"

"You are," Lanie said softly. She pulled a stool up to face Kate and sat down. "Sweetie, you are getting married. In two hours, you will be walking down the aisle towards Castle. The man looks at you like you're a goddess and treats you like a queen. Just imagine his face when he sees you walking toward him in that dress."

Kate looked at her gown. After trying on what felt like thousands of dresses with Lanie, Alexis and Martha in tow they finally found the perfect one - a strapless vintage inspired lace gown. Rick, despite his best efforts, had no idea what the dress looked like. Alexis and Martha were unshakable, not taking any of his bribes. For the last month and a half, after the alterations were complete, the dress was kept safely at Lanie's so he wouldn't be tempted to snoop.

She couldn't help but smile as she imagined the look on his face the first time he saw her, as she made her way toward him to start their lives together.

"Are you breathing?" Lanie asked.

Kate nodded, still smiling. "I can't believe it's all happening so suddenly though."

"Sudden? Honey, nothing about you and Castle has ever been sudden. We all waited for five years for him to pop the question and you kept us waiting for another year and a half for the big day."

"I just wanted to be sure," she said, twisting the diamond ring around her finger.

"Are you sure now?"

She looked at her dress once again.

"Kate, if you aren't, tell me. You can walk out right now and Javi and I will take care of Castle."

"I can't do that to him. I love him too much."

Lanie smiled and glanced at the clock. "It's time to get dressed." She got up and took the dress down from its spot. "Ready?"

Kate nodded, smiling wider than Lanie had ever seen her smile. "Ready."

To be continued...


	3. Them

Rick stood near the minister overseeing their wedding, by himself near the alter. His hands clasped behind his back, trying to keep them from shaking as the music began. He looked down to the other end of the aisle as Lanie and Esposito walked toward him, followed by Ryan and Alexis, both women wearing steel blue knee-length dresses. "Breathe," Alexis mouthed as she took her place behind Lanie, catching her father's eye.

He nodded and swallowed hard the song that was all too familiar to him began. When he turned his head to see Kate walking toward him clutching her father's arm, he felt Esposito's hand on his arm, saving him from falling over.

* * *

"Are you ready, Katie?"

Kate smiled, looking at her father and nodded silently.

"You know, you can still run," he told her as Lanie and Esposito disappeared through the doors leading to the aisle. "It's not too late."

"I'm not running. I couldn't, even if I wanted to." Jim tucked a stray strand of hair behind his daughter's ear as she spoke, seeing an underlying pain in her eyes that he'd come to know all too well. "I miss Mom," she said, saying what they were both thinking.

"I know you do, honey. I do too. She would be so proud of you."

"I wish she was here," she said. As a little girl, she always imagined her wedding being like any other wedding should be and it was almost perfect. She had the perfect man waiting for her at the other end of the church, a perfect dress, her father was walking her down the aisle. It was everything she wanted, except someone was missing. Even though her mother had been dead close to fifteen years, she could never have imagined this day without her.

"She is here. You know she is."

Kate smiled, nodding. Her something old and something blue were the same thing, a sapphire bracelet that belonged to Johanna. Her fingers moved over the smooth stones in the bracelet as she heard the wedding march begin.

"Ready?" Jim asked one final time, holding his arm out to her.

"Ready," she said as she linked her arm through his.

* * *

Kate couldn't help laughing at the look on Rick's face as she stopped in front of him, her father placing her hand into his. Like Lanie had predicted, he looked like he was watching a goddess walk toward him, a familiar look but somehow different.

As they looked into each other's eyes, his mouth open slightly, the world around them faded away. Their guests all disappeared, Ryan, Lanie, Esposito and Alexis all faded and the words the minister spoke were only faint mummers in their ears.

"Richard?"

Rick blinked, breaking him from the trace he'd falling into. "What?" he asked, looking around as if he'd forgotten where he was. There was scattered laughter from their guests.

"Your vows, Richard," the minister said, smiling at him.

"Right. Right… um." He dug into his jacket pockets, finally pulling out a piece of paper. He looked at it as he unfolded it, his hands trembling slightly. "I… I wrote stuff down but…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "What I wrote down doesn't hold a candle to you. Nothing ever will." He looked down at the paper then back to her, letting his speech fall from his hands. "What I wrote was filled with clichés. It was my pathetic attempt to be poetic but a poet, I am not. I love you, so much. No one ever has and ever will compare to how I feel about you. You are my world. I don't know where I would be today without you. You saved me, more times than I deserved to be saved. I love you, Kate Beckett. For the rest of my life."

"Katherine?"

Kate inhaled deeply at her cue to speak. "Oh, God. I swore to myself I wouldn't cry," she mumbled, trying to wipe her tears away without ruining her make up. "I… I didn't write anything down. I couldn't think of anything to say that I thought would compare to what you would have prepared. I'm not good with words, like you are… well, unless I'm interrogating someone," she said, making their guests laugh. "And even when you speak off the cuff, you still manage to find the perfect words to say. I don't know how you do it. How you manage to calm me so easily, sometimes you don't even have to try or even speak. You're the most amazing man I ever met and I can honestly say I wouldn't be alive if you had never come into my life. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Good job," Rick whispered.

"Thanks," she said with a laugh.

Esposito handed Rick and Kate the rings, they followed the ministers words, repeating what he said as they slid the rings onto each other's fingers. Finally, they heard the words they had waited so long to hear.

"I pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss your bride."

Kate and Rick both smiled widely as her arms wound tight around his neck, pressing her lips to his as he put his arms tight around her waist and picked her up off the ground.

The End


End file.
